Abstract

To the editor: Advertisements have begun to appear in your journal and in other medical journals for moxalactam (Moxam; Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, Indiana), a new "third-generation cephalosporin." An unreferenced statement in these advertisements claims that "Moxam alone was more effective than the combination of gentamicin plus clindamycin" in the treatment of surgical infections. However, if one examines the study on which this claim is based (1), somewhat different conclusions are apparent. In a randomized study 156 patients received either moxalactam or gentamicin plus clindamycin, and "elimination of sepsis was achieved in only 57% of those given gentamicin-clindamycin, as